Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 177

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 2390

USA > Pennsylvania > Pike County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 177
USA > Pennsylvania > Monroe County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 177
USA > Pennsylvania > Susquehanna County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 177
USA > Pennsylvania > Wayne County > Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1 > Part 177

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the age of eighteen years, when he began working for the Delaware & Hudson Coal Co., on the Grav- ity railroad, remaining with them for one year and nine months. For several months following he engaged in farming in Lackawanna county, Penn., and then was in the employ of the Pennsylvania Coal Company on gravity for six years. At the end of that period he purchased his present farm of 300 acres in Salem township, on which is a beauti- ful lake of eighty acres, known as Bidwell's Lake. It is fed by springs, is ninety-three feet deep, and is well-stocked with pickerel, perch, bass and cat- fish. From this lake he gets the water supply to run his sawmill, which he has operated for the past twenty-five years with good success.

On February 26, 1862, in Salem township, Mr. Spangenberg married Miss Esther Foote, the cere- mony being performed by Rev. Edward Menden- hall, an Episcopal clergyman. To them have been born the following children: Robert F., whose sketch appears elsewhere; Curtis F., who died at the age of foureen years; George H., who is now with his parents, his wife, Edith Baisley, having died March 29, 1897; Berton W., who died at the age of ten years .; Cora, who married Frank W. Paston, a jeweler of Moscow, Penn. ; and Homer D., Thom- as H. and Millard, all at home.

During the Civil war, Mr. Spangenberg enlist- ed at New York City, February 29, 1864, in Com- pany F, 6th N. Y. V. I., and participated in the battles of the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor, those of the Shenandoah Valley and those in front of Petersburg, where he was stationed at the time of Lee's surrender. The war ended, he was honorably discharged, in September, 1865, and returned home to resume the more quiet pursuits of farming and lumbering. He usually supports the Republican party by his ballot, but at local elections is not strictly partisan, always voting for the man whom he thinks best qualified to fill the office. He has served as township collector two years, super- visor two years, and auditor six years, discharging the duties of these positions in a prompt and able manner. In religious connection he is a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and he is everywhere honored for his sterling worth and exalted character.

GEORGE A. FRIEH (deceased), late proprie- tor of the "Central Square Hotel," at Milford, Pike county, was an able an successful manager and had won a high reputation with the traveling public.

Mr. Frieh was born April 13, 1852, in the Pro- vince of Alsace, then a part of France, where his ancestors had resided for generations. His paternal grandparents, Francis A. and Frances Frieh, passed their lives there, the grandfather being a farmer by occupation. They had three sons: Francis A., Jo- seph and John, of whom Joseph was the only one to come to America. Joseph Frieh, our subject's father, was born March 12, 1822, and in early man- hood engaged in farming in his native land. He

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married Ann M. Vogel, who was born in Alsace in 1826, and in 1881 they came to the United States to make their home, locating upon a farm in Ding- man township, Pike county. The wife died there in November, 1888, her remains being interred in Mil- ford cemetery, and in 1890 he removed to Milford. The family is identified with the Catholic Church, and the children of this worthy couple were reared in that faith. Our subject was the eldest of a fam- ily of six children, three of whom are now living : Francis X., who married Miss Kate Greind, and died December 27, 1899; Marie ( deceased ), who did not marry; Theresa M., who is connected with a summer hotel, "The Halcyon," at Newport, R. I., married Francois Leclercq; Alphonse M., a cook in Boston, Mass., not married; Philip, a help in a hotel kitchen in Boston; and Isadore, who died un- married.

George A. Frich spent his youth upon his father's farm in Alsace, and in 1872 came to this country, for five months remained in New York City working for a florist, and then went to Washington county, N. Y., where he spent a year upon a farm. During the next two years he was employed in a hotel at Mauch Chunk, Penn., and later he went to New York and served a regular ap- prenticeship as a cook in the old "St. Nicholas Hotel." For some time he was employed as chef in different hotels, but in 1881 he joined his father upon the farm in Pike county, where he remained two years. Having decided to engage in the hotel business on his own account, he purchased the old "Union House" property at Milford, and having torn down the old building, he erected the present attractive hotel, containing eighteen rooms and supplied with modern improvements, including steam-heat and hot and cold water. Mr. Frieh died June 8, 1899, and the hotel will be run under the same name and under the proprietorship of Mrs. L. J. Frieh. Mr. Frich was a Democrat in politics; socially he was connected with the I. O. O. F. at Milford, and the K. of H. at Port Jervis.

On January 1I, 1888, George A. Frieh was married in New York City to Miss Louise J. Beck, and one daughter, Pauline F., has blessed the union. Mrs. Frieh, who is a native of Milford, was a most capable helpmeet to her husband. She is of German (lescent and belongs to a family which has long been prominent in the hotel business in Milford, her father, the late Ernest J. Beck, a native of Germany, having been the proprietor of the "Vandermark Hotel." Her mother, Mrs. M. Frederika ( Brin- nier) Beck, now owns that establishment, and a brother. John Beck, is the founder and proprietor of "Beck's Hotel," in the same village.

HON. FRANK P. KIMBLE is one of the able and successful attorneys of Honesdale, Wayne county. Like many other members of the legal profession who have risen to prominence he was born on a farm, and his early life was passed amid the scenes and activities of agriculture. He was

cager for an education, and neglected no opportunity to add to his advantages in that direction. Teach- ing school was the natural stepping-stone to a broad- er culture, and in this our subject engaged in his youth while preparing for his life vocation.

Mr. Kimble was born in Pike county, Penn., October 17, 1852, a son of Heman N. and Lydia (Dimon) Kimble, and grandson of Jacob Kimble, one of the old settlers of Pike county, who lived to an advanced age .. He was original and inde- pendent in his ideas and opinions, and by some of his neighbors regarded as eccentric. He had sev- enteen children, twelve sons and five daughters. One of these sons, Heman N. Kimble, father of our subject, was born in Pike county in 1825. He was an industrious and successful farmer, possessed a good common-school education, and in politics was a Democrat. He lived to the age of sixty-five years. His wife, Lydia ( Dimon), was a native of New Jersey, when a child removing with her par- ents to Pike county, and died at the age of forty- five years. The children of Heman N. and Lydia Kimble were as follows: Jennie, wife of James Cranston, of Wilkes Barre, Penn .; Josephine, who married George N. Killman, of Paupack township, Pike county ; Almeron F., a resident of Hawley, Penn .; Maggie, who married Wesley C. Warner, of Chicago, Ill .; Frank P., subject of this sketch; Blanche, wife of A. Down, of White Mills, Penn .; Carrie, wife of Edward Maginnis, of Logansport, Ind .; George, a carpenter of White Mills, Wayne county, and Lorin W., of Newark, New Jersey.

Frank P. Kimble attended the public schools in Pike county, at intervals, until he was fifteen years old. At that early age he began teaching school in Pike county, continuing thus for some years, and later he attended the State Normal School at Mansfield, Tioga Co., Penn., from which in- stitution he was graduated in 1876. He taught in the State Normal School preceding his graduation, and also in the Wayne County Normal. In order to further prepare himself for a professional ca- reer he took a private course of instruction in lan- guage.

In 1883 Mr. Kimble settled in Honesdale. He entered the law office of C. S. Miner as a student, was admitted to the Bar at the March term of Court, 1886, at once opening an office, and has since been engaged in the successful practice of his profession. 'Mr. Kimble was married, in 1878, to Miss Eleanor Sears, who was born in Prompton in 1856, and died within two years of her marriage, leaving one child, Eleanor S. In 1886 Mr. Kimble married Ida L. Hall, of Carbondale, Penn., and they have one child, Constance.

In politics Mr. Kimble is an ardent Democrat. Fraternally he is a member of the F. & A. M., and has been Worshipful Master of the lodge to which he belongs; he is also a prominent member of the Royal Arcanum. He is now serving his third term as school director at Honesdale. In 1891 he was elected to the State Legislature, and served with credit and distinction to his country. Mr. Kimble

Frank Gamble

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COMMEMORATIVE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.

is a public speaker of recognized force and ability, and in addition to the exaction of his professior. his services are in demand during important po- litical campaigns. In recent years he has delivered many addresses, political and otherwise, in Wayne and adjoining counties.

ALBERT HELMS, a veteran of the Civil war and a well-known resident of Milford, Pike county, is a representative of one of the old families, his grandfather, Samuel Helms, having been noted in pioneer times as an Indian hunter. He was severe- ly wounded at the battle of Conashaugh, April 21, 1780. The Helms family is of Dutch origin, and our subject's great-grandfather, Samuel Helms, of Holland, came to America at an early day with his wife, formerly a Miss Gonzaules, and settled upon a farm in Ulster county, New York.

Samuel Helms (2), our subject's grandfather, was reared in Ulster county, and came to Pennsyl- vania in 1802, locating in Pike county, where he followed hunting and trapping in connection with agricultural work. He built the first house in what is now Blooming Grove township, but after a few years removed to Dingman township, where his last days were spent. He married Miss Hannah West- fall, a native of Sussex county, N. J., and they had the following children: Peter, Jacob, Daniel, Solo- mon, Samuel, Hiram, and Polly (Mrs. Darion Blackmore), all now deceased.

Hiram Helms, father of our subject, was born at Lord's Valley, Pike county, in 1803, and became a prosperous farmer in Dingman township. He was much esteemed as a citizen, being frequently chosen to local offices. He died May 17, 1877, and his wife, Hecklie ( Blackmore), died February 28, 1868, aged sixty years, their remains being interred in a private cemetery in Dingman township. This worthy couple had ten children: Hiram, who mar- ried Ann Royal and settled in Luzerne county, Penn .; Maribee, deceased, formerly the wife of Silas C. Hulse ; Maria, Mrs. Samuel M. Drew, de- ceased; Samuel, deceased, who married Sarah J. Nuting ; Simon, who died in childhood; Victoria, Mrs. Samuel C. Wood, deceased ; Elizabeth, wife of Salvenus Proctor, a railway engineer residing at Susquehanna ; Albert, our subject ; Peter, who mar- ried Mary Lilly, and resides at the old homestead in Dingman township; and William, deceased, who married Elizabeth Blackman.

Albert Helms was born September 3, 1844, at the old homestead, now owned by his brother Peter, and the greater portion of his time was spent there until his marriage, at the age of twenty-nine. He then went to Wyoming county, Penn., where he was foreman of a stone quarry for two years, and later he engaged in farming, spending two years in Salem township, Wayne county, and two years in Lackawaxen township, Pike county. Since that time he has made his home in Milford, where he held the position of jailer for six months, and then became clerk of the "Dimmick House," remaining 48

there six months. For a few years he conducted a boarding-house, and in August, 1891, he took his present position as clerk in a general store in Milford. The firm was formerly known as A. D. Brown & Son, and later as Brown & Armstrong, and in 1898 the business passed into the hands of Thomas Armstrong, but through all these changes Mr. Helms has been retained, his faithful and effi- cient service being appreciated by his employers. On August 17, 1864, Mr. Helms enlisted at Mil- ford under Capt. Hart, in Company E, 5th Pennsyl- vania Cavalry, a Philadelphia regiment, and he served until honorably discharged in 1865, at Kit- tery Point, Maine. During the latter part of his term of service he was with the Veteran Reserves, owing to injuries caused by a fall from his horse. Politically Mr. Helms is a Democrat, and in relig- ion he inclines to the Methodist faith, although he is not a Church member. Socially he is popu- lar, being clever and intelligent, and for years he has been an active worker in the G. A. R.

On June 19, 1873, Mr. Helms was married, in Lackawaxen township, Pike county, to Miss Martha B. McCarty, a native of Milford, and a member of a highly-respected family of Pike county. Her father, William McCarty, now a retired agricult- urist in Dingman township, was born January 2, 1816, son of James and Margaret ( Buchanan) Mc- Carty, well-known pioneers of that county. In early manhood he conducted a meat market in Mil- ford, and later he was engaged in the hotel business for thirty-five years in Dingman township and at Shohola Falls, in 1887 settling upon his present farm. He married Miss Mary Burrell, who was born March 20, 1820, and they had a large family of children, as follows: Alanson, who was killed at Yorktown, Va., in 1862; James P., who died in November, 1864, while home on furlough; Eliza- beth, deceased; Arthur, who married Catherine Brennen, of Ulster county, N. Y., and resides at Mil- ford, Penn. ; George H., a farmer in Dingman town- ship, Pike county, who married Martha Stevens, of Biltmore, N. C .; Mary, wife of William Parker, a sawyer in Hawley, Penn. ; Martha B., Mrs. Helms ; William S., unmarried, who is employed as clerk in a hotel at Milford; and Maggie H., wife of George E. Melius, superintendent of the Canfield Rubber Works at Bridgeport, Connecticut.

F. G. HAMES is a well-known general mer- chant and wide-awake business man of Greentown, Pike county, where he opened a mercantile estab- lishment in 1892, and has since enjoyed a constant- ly increasing business, due to his enterprise and fair dealing. In the spring of 1898 he also put in opera- tion a local telephone line, it being only two miles in length at the start, but in a short time he organ- ized a stock company, of which he is president, superintendent and general manager, and they now have some ninety miles of line and over 125 tele- phones in use.

Mr. Hames was born September 26, 1867,

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at Wilsonville, Wayne Co., Penn., whence when a boy he removed with his parents to Greene township, Pike county, where he grew to manhood. At the age of twenty-one he took charge of a stationary engine at Raymerville, l'ike county, where he was employed for four years. Since then he has con- ducted his present store, sawmill and other business at Greentown. A man of keen perception, of un- bounded enterprise, his success in life is due entire- ly to his own efforts, and he deserves prominent mention among the leading and representative busi- ness men of the county. In politics he is a stanch Democrat, and for four years he filled the office of postmaster of Greentown to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. He still holds the postoffice in his place of business, and is assistant postmaster under a Republican administration.

On June 23, 1892, at Hamesville, Pike county, Mr. Hames was married, by Rev. L. W. Karschner, a Methodist Episcopal minister, to Miss Emily E., daughter of Isaac and Martha J. (Dawson) Corey, and one son and one daughter bless this union : Ver- non W., born August 27, 1896, and Georgie May, born January 12, 1900. Isaac K. Corey, Mrs. Hames' father, was born in Greene township, Pike county, where he spent his entire life as a prosperous farmer and lumberman, dying in his native town- ship. His parents were John and Mary Carlton Corey. His wife was born in County Tyrone, Ire- land, May 2, 1844, and still survives him. The children born to this worthy couple were as follows : Elmer, a resident of Greene township, Pike county ; Emily E., who was born August 21, 1864, and is now the wife of our subject; Victor E., also of Greene township; and Alice, wife of W. F. Weiss, of Auburn Corners, Penn. James Dawson, Mrs. Corey's father, was also a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, where he married Miss Amelia Dilworth. In 1861, with his family, he emigrated to America and located in Sterling township, Wayne Co., Penn., where he engaged in farming. He died while vis- iting friends and relatives at his birthplace in Ire- land. The children born to James and Amelia Daw- son were James, who died in Ireland; Alacia, who married George Cummins, and died at Dunmore, Penn., in 1897; Sarah, who died at the age of twenty-four years; Annie, wife of John Neville, a Kansas farmer; Martha J., mother of Mrs. Hames; Richard. a farmer of Dreher township, Wayne Co., Penn. ; Eliza, who died at the age of twelve years ; and James, who died in Dreher township, Wayne county. Mrs. Corey's paternal grandparents, James and Mary Ann (Courtney ) Dawson, and maternal grandparents, Anthony and Martha (Hanna) Dil- worth, all spent their entire lives in Ireland.

JAMES FRANCIS MOYLAN, a representa- tive and prominent citizen of Canaan township, Wane county, was born June 8, 1843, on the old homestead where he now makes his home, the place being known as the Elk Forest tract.

Mr. Moylan's parents, David and Julia (Re-

gan) Moylan, were both natives of County Cork, Ireland, but became acquainted and were married in Carbondale, Penn. His paternal grandfather, John Moylan, never left the Emerald Isle, but the maternal grandfather, Daniel Regan, emigrated from County Cork to America at an early day and died in Lackawaxen, Penn. A distinguished and prominent representative of the Moylan family was Jasper Moylan, who was born in County Cork, Ire- land, in 1781, a brother of John Moylan, and a half- brother of Gen. Stephen Moylan. Being intended for the Caholic priesthood, he received an excellent classical education at St. Omer, France, but later studied law, was admitted to the bar, and became one of the leading attorneys of Philadelphia, Penn., where he continued to successfully engage in prac- tice until his death, on February II, 1812, when he had reached the age of fifty-four years. He was married in Christ Church, that city, to Mrs. Isabella Mease, widow of James Mease.

The father of our subject was a contractor on the construction of canals and railroads, and from the north branch of the Delaware & Hudson Canal came to Wayne county, in 1820, when still a young man, becoming one of the first settlers of Canaan township. For many years he was one of the prom- inent and influential members of the community, and was called upon to fill several township offices. He died upon the old homestead in Canaan town- ship, in 1857, aged sixty-three years, and was buried at Honesdale, while the mother of our sub- ject died in 1884, aged seventy-two years, and was laid to rest in Canaan cemetery. Both were devout members of the Catholic Church. In their family were four children, namely: James F .; Catherine, who married James Jenkins, and died in Texas; Patrick, a farmer of Middle Valley, Wayne county ; and Charles, a fireman in a tannery in Potter coun- ty, Penn. The father was twice married, his first wife being Miss Catherine Whallen, and to them were also born four children: John, who died in 1895 ; Mary, widow of Edward Quinlin, of Promp- ton, Penn .; Bridget, wife of John Quinlin (brother of the above), an employe on the Gravity railroad at Prompton; and David, who lives with our sub- ject.

James F. Moylan remained upon the home farm until 1865, when he went to Wisconsin, and for a year was in the employ of the Milwaukee & Prairie du Chien railroad. For three months he drove a stage in Minnesota, then engaged in farming a short time, and operated a reaper at Plainview, but after two years spent in the West he returned home, and began railroading on the Jefferson branch, between Honesdale and Hawley. Later he was connected with the Midland railroad, at Hancock, N. Y., and in 1871 went to New York City, where for two years he had charge of a force of men employed on the rock work of the underground road on Fourth avenue. Going to Wilkes Barre, Penn., he con- tracted with the Lehigh Valley Railroad Co., and had charge of a force of men for four years. The

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following eight years he was located at Sayre, Penn., where he superintended the work in coal pockets, and at the end of that time returned to the old home farm, which he has since successfully operated He has made many improvements upon the place, mak- ing it one of the most desirable farms in Canaan township.

In Honesdale, April 17, 1871, Mr. Moylan was married to Miss Mary Eichholzer, Father Booth officiating. They have three children : Ida, the wife of Howard Gilpin, who is engaged in merchandis- ing and in the operation of a sawmill in Greentown, Pike Co., Penn .; David J., engaged in teaching school at Honesdale, and also assisting his father in the operation of the farm for about three months during the year ; and Minnie, who also follows teach- and resides at home.

Mrs. Moylan was born in Honesdale, Decem- ber 29, 1850, a daughter of Fredrick and Marie (Miller) Eichholzer, natives of Switzerland, who in 1846 crossed the Atlantic, and first located in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., whence they removed to Honesdale two years later. There the father died in 1869, aged sixty-six years, and was buried at that place; the mother passed away at Pittston, Penn., October 22, 1889, at the age of seventy-nine years, and her remains were interred in the cemetery there. Both were communicants of the Catholic Church, and were highly-respected people. Of their children, Joseph is fireman on an engine, and is a resident of Forest City, Penn. ; John is proprietor of the "Junction House," in Pittston; Louisa married Frank Miller, a miner of Wilkes Barre, and is now deceased; Mary is the wife of our subject; and Casper died in infancy. Mrs. Moylan's paternal grandparents were Josphine and Fredrick Eich- holzer, and her maternal grandparents were Mor- ris and Catherine Miller, residents of Canton Aargau, Switzerland.

The Democratic party finds in Mr. Moylan an earnest advocate of its principles, and among the many local offices he has been called upon to fill are those of supervisor, school director and tax col- lector. He and his family are all communicants of the Catholic Church, and in social circles occupy an enviable position, numbering among their friends the best people of the community.

HENRY L. CANNE, a well-known contractor and builder residing in Dingman township, Pike county, on the old Milford & Dingman road, about a half mile from Milford, comes from ancestry that originated in the city of Cannes, France.

Mr. Canne was born in Bruxelles, Belgium, February 19, 1851, a son of Henry J. and Adelaide (Gerard) Canne, also natives of that country. The father, who was in the wheelwright business, came to the United States in 1856, and after stopping for a time in New York City,went to Boston, and thence to New Orleans, at all of which places he worked at his business. Returning to Belgium in 1860, he brought his family to America and located in Ding-

man township, Pike Co., Penn., where he purchased a farm, on which the family resided while he carried on a wheelwright and blacksmith establishment in New York City, returning home every few weeks. Later he engaged in business on Long Island, but in 1885 retired from active labor, owing to ill health, and returned to his family. He died in 1887, while on business in Union Hill, N. J., at the age of sev- enty years. His wife made her home with our sub- ject until she was called to her final rest, July 7, 1884, at the age of seventy years. In their family were four children: Louis, who was married and died in New York, leaving no children; Joseph C., who is married, and engaged in farming in Dela- ware township, Pike county ; Henry L., our subject ; and Nathalie, wife of O. Van Suetendael, a machin- ist of Yonkers, New York.

Herry L. Canne accompanied his parents on their emigration to the New World in 1860, and the first three years in America he spent upon the home farm in Dingman township, after which he worked in a stave factory in Buffalo, N. Y., for eighteen months. The following year he was again upon the farm, and he afterward spent a year and a half in the Bournique watch-case factory at Mil- ford, Penn. For one year he worked with his father in his shop at South Greenfield, Long Island, and was interested in the same business in New York City for a year and a half. He also followed the carpenter's trade there until 1870, when he returned to Milford, remaining there until 1874, when he built his present home in Dingman township; but he has continued to engage in carpentering and building, and has met with a fair degree of success.

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Commemorative biographical record of northeastern Pennsylvania, including the counties of Susquehanna, Wayne, Pike and Monroe, Pt. 1, Part 177

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co. Number of Pages: 2390

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago : J.H. Beers & Co.
Number of Pages: 2390